WhyBike Motorcycle Blog

I have a couple potholes on my street. One is particularly bad, a deep, wide gravel hole right in the path of travel when I turn onto my street. The gravel from the hole is spread around the hole making it a sour note on the end of my usually spirited commute.

I was skeptical when I read about the online form to report potholes in my home town of Oakland. I knew the form would work and that the city would get my complaint. I was skeptical that the city would fix the pothole in my lifetime. I filled out the form, intersection and my personal info and hit submit. Every night as I ended my commute and avoided the pothole I would be reminded about that city Website. And every night I was disappointed. So when I returned home from a business trip three weeks later and saw the patch over the hole I was overjoyed. Not because I can now lay my bike way over on the final turn of my commute but that my city works. It works in an efficient and tangible way that improves the quality of my life. It gives me hope in the midst of police scandals and diminishing budgets that a group of people who work for the city are doing something right for the people of Oakland.

The URI to TrackBack this entry is: http://www.whybike.com/blog/wp-trackback.php/192

Haya, greetings from Ireland (Dublin to be more precise).
Your success reminded me of an experience I had last year.
Our roads have improved no end over the years. They used to be trecherous.
It had been dry for a few days when the rain came. As we all know thats really dangerous for bikers. All the oil, muck and junk that has been lying around has come back to life and is threatening to cause us an off!
The 2nd last roundabout (i believe they’re not that common in the states) before my apartment had some kind of plastic? spillage across my exit. That, combined with the recent rain nearly had me landing on my arse! I was travelling at, what had to be, 4 mph.
I was really shook up and I knew somebody was definitley going to come off at some stage. Our local council deals with repairing the roads etc. But I knew they wouldn’t respond to some random member of the public, so I went to the police station to report it.
That was at about 7pm on a Friday. Had to go into town the next morning about 9am… job done! I couldn’t believe it. Our council is usually super slow to do anything.
Thinking about it since, reporting it to the police was a good idea. They had to keep a record of my issue.
So in trying to get our favourite corners back, we are doing a service for the community - we rock!!

In the town that I live in (Ford Heights, Il. Tiny little town) we seem to always have a large amount of potholes. The village does it’s best to fill in the potholes, but they do rely heavily on the residents letting them know where the trouble spots are.
The town does have a small road crew, so there is only so much they can do in a day. Eh, maybe there’s some federal money that might become available for towns to get some public works out of the way.

It’s outstanding that you had luck with the city’s form! Hopefully more and more towns, villages, and cities can keep their roads safe for all travelers as well - in a reasonable time frame. It’s studies like the Hurt Report that conclude that poor road conditions are the leading factor in motorcycle accidents that get city officials to take complaints like yours seriously - and get that pothole fixed! Great site, keep up the good content!

Due to SPAM abuse comment moderation is on. It may take a little while before your post goes live, longer if I am out on a ride. Be patient, I value your comment, even if you are wrong. The Web is place for intelligent conversation and healthy discussion but don't get nasty. Messages posted at this site are the sole opinion and responsibility of the poster and do not imply an endorsement from the management of WhyBike.com. All trademarks and copyrights are held by respective owners.